It is a strange mix of themes ranging from the American West to the ballads and jigs of Celtic ancestors that somehow seems to make sense in the musical world Jack Hardy has created. And it is a separate world to which the listener is transported; a timeless place inhabited by tinkers and cowboys, saints and sinners, elves, virgins and crones. From his extensive travels and reading he has forged an endearing non-academic approach to literature, one that is more at home in the pub than in the classroom. "He clearly seems to enjoy making his listeners think. He may dare his audience to figure out what he is saying, but he also credits them with the intelligence to do so" (Tom Nelligan, Dirty Linen, 1998).
In Europe, where Hardy has toured extensively for over 20 years, he is accepted as an ambassador for American music. In an Italian encyclopedia of rock Jack has a larger entry than many prominent rock stars.
"Nothing adventuresome is created in a vacuum," Jack says, "you get people together and the creative sparks fly." The weekly songwriters workshop which he has hosted for many years taught and nurtured countless songwriters, not the least of which are Suzanne Vega, John Gorka, Shawn Colvin, Richard Shindell and David Massengill. The Fast Folk Musical Magazine, which he founded and edited, released the first recordings of most of the artists currently headlining folk festivals. This collection of over 100 compilation albums has now been taken over by the Smithsonian.
Gregarious and outgoing when talking about his songs and songwriting in general, Jack fiercely guards the privacy of his personal life. Jack Hardy was born in Indiana, his father a musician, his mother a painter. He grew up in New York, Colorado, and Connecticut, studied opera and literature in college.
In 1998, Prime CD reissued his first ten albums in a box set as well as his eleventh album The Passing. In 1996, BCN Records released a tribute album The Songs of Jack Hardy: Of the White Goddess, a collection of his Celtic ballads (all sung by women). In 1997, Jack was the recipient of The Kate Wolf Memorial Award, given yearly to "an artist who makes a difference through his music" by the World Folk Music Association. In 2000, Prime CD has released Jack's twelfth album Omens.
Omens was recorded live to 24 track analog in two days, using the vintage recording equipment of Prime CD's Theater 99 recording studio in New York City, with no overdubs. The fourteen songs range from the uptempo Celtic "Sile na gCioch" where a tinker finds a dress on the side of the road and gives it to a young lass, to the majestic "West of Dingle" where a woman faces a choice between her lover and her fiddle; from the biting barrage of juxtaposed media images of "I Ought to Know" to the romantic ballad "Only One Sky" and back to the uptempo humorous Clancy Brother-ish "The Boney Bailiff." This album takes you on quite a musical voyage with some of Jack's best poetic imagery, but it is the sweeping beautiful melodies that carry these songs directly into your memory. The players include Jack's current touring band: Tom Duval on electric guitar and harmony (also heard on Jack's albums The Hunter and Civil Wars), Mike Laureanno on Hofner bass and harmony, Dave Anthony on Drums (also heard on Jack's album The Passing), and Kate MacLeod on fiddle. The album also features a buried bonus track containing 19 minutes of Suzanne Vega interviewing Jack on the subject of songwriting. Hardy's 16th album, Rye Grass, arrived on Great Divide in 2009. Jack Hardy passed away on March 11, 2011.
source and more infos: http://www.jackhardy.com/
Memory
Jack Hardy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the blackberry still leaves its stains
A dress damp and torn on the forest floor
Where nary a trace still remains
And the blackberry may have no memory of you
But I do
And the wild apple still has its thorns
But the flower that shows doth not smell like a rose
And no one can eat of its fruit
And the wild apple may have no memory of you
But I do
I viewed this garden from a distance
Especially in the flower of spring
Not knowing of nature's insistence
Not knowing the honey for its sting
And the rose is a barrier of thorns
After the petals have drooped
And the staggering years with their own barren fears
And the rose hips double-edged truth
For these roses may have no memory of you
But I do
I followed your trail in dream-time
Though the footprints were long filled with sand
I swore not to walk on that shore any more
Too much wreckage awash on that strand
But that's me all alone on the shore
With the flowers instead of a sword
Tempting the fates and the same hurricane
To strike twice where memory is stored
For the storm may have no memory of you
But I do
The lyrics of "Memory" by Jack Hardy is a poetic depiction of a person still holding onto memories of a past love. The first stanza mentions blackberries and how despite having thorns and stains, they still exist in the same form. The dress on the forest floor with no trace left speaks about how everything around us changes or disappears, but memories remain. The singer says that the blackberry may not have any memory of the person he's thinking about, but he does.
The second stanza talks about wild apples and how they also have thorns and blooms, but their fruit is not edible. Again, the singer mentions that wild apples may have no memory of the person he's thinking about, but he does. In the third stanza, the singer talks about viewing the garden from a distance and not realizing the complexity of nature. He talks about how the rose is a barrier of thorns and how years passing adds to one's fears.
Finally, in the last stanza, the singer mentions following the trail left by his past love but not wanting to walk on that shore again due to the wreckage caused. Despite that, he still holds onto the memories and understands that the storm may not have any memory of the person or the love shared, but he does.
Overall, this song is a metaphorical depiction of how memories remain even though everything else fades away. It talks about the complexity of nature and how things change over time, but the memory remains.
Line by Line Meaning
And the blackberry still has its thorns
The blackberry plant still possesses its spikes
And the blackberry still leaves its stains
The blackberry still causes marks and blemishes
A dress damp and torn on the forest floor
A wet and damaged garment thrown in the woods
Where nary a trace still remains
Where nothing can be seen anymore
And the blackberry may have no memory of you
The blackberry plant cannot remember the person
But I do
But I do remember you
And the wild apple still has its thorns
The wild apple tree still possesses its spikes
And the wild apple still has its blooms
The wild apple tree still produces flowers
But the flower that shows doth not smell like a rose
But its flowers do not have a rose's scent
And no one can eat of its fruit
And no one can consume its fruit
And the wild apple may have no memory of you
The wild apple tree cannot remember the person
But I do
But I do remember you
I viewed this garden from a distance
I observed this garden from afar
Especially in the flower of spring
Particularly during the springtime bloom
Not knowing of nature's insistence
Unaware of nature's demands
Not knowing the honey for its sting
Unaware of the sweetness and the sting's aftermath
And the rose is a barrier of thorns
The rose plant acts as a barbed fence
After the petals have drooped
Once its flowers have fallen
And the staggering years with their own barren fears
And the passing time with their own hopeless anxieties
And the rose hips double-edged truth
The rose's fruits have both positive and negative traits
For these roses may have no memory of you
The rose plants cannot remember the person
But I do
But I do remember you
I followed your trail in dream-time
I pursued your footsteps in my dreams
Though the footprints were long filled with sand
Although the tracks were long covered in sand
I swore not to walk on that shore any more
I vowed to never walk on that beach again
Too much wreckage awash on that strand
Too much debris washed up on that shore
But that's me all alone on the shore
But that's me standing alone on the beach
With the flowers instead of a sword
With flowers in hand instead of a weapon
Tempting the fates and the same hurricane
Challenging destiny and the same storm
To strike twice where memory is stored
To strike again where memories are kept
For the storm may have no memory of you
The storm cannot remember the person
But I do
But I do remember you
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: DOMINIK DE LEON, JUERGEN MUTSCHALL, ALEXIS STRUM
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind